Schoenbrunn Palace

Our first full day in Vienna, we visited Schoenbrunn Palace, the summer palace for the Habsburg Imperial Family, one of the greatest palaces in the world.

Yes that is snow on the roof of Schloß Schönbrunn.

The interrior is rococo, an architectural style which takes theatrical ornamentation to frivolous extremes.

The Imperial Apartments are a must-see.

Tiergarten Schönbrunn is the world’s oldest zoo, founded in 1752 by Francis Stephen of Lorraine, who was the husband of Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa.

Wow, there’s a lot of politics and history to unpack there.

Let’s start with Lorraine.

Lorraine was an often pivotal and disputed region between Germany and France; a dispute which has it’s roots in how Charlemagne’s illiterate, slave-trading descendants divided the Carolingian Empire between themselves; a dispute which echoed in the Franco-Prussian War, and both World Wars.

This picture of Lotharingia illustrates how the 855 Treaty of Prüm divided the Carolingian Empire between West Frankia (now France), East Frankia (now Germany), with Lotharingia in the middle to fight over.

As the habit of the Habsburg Dynasty was to consolidate power through marriage, one can see the advantage of marrying pivotal territory Lorraine into the empire.

As for Empress Maria Theresa, she lost the fertile and prosperous region of Silesia to Prussia in the Seven Year’s War, known in America as the French and Indian War, an event which allowed Prussia to become powerful enough to eventually unite Germany.

Your friend and mine, the penguin.

We found relief from cold in Rainforest House.

Schönbrunn translates to beautiful spring.